From the Medical Governance Research Institute, Tokyo.
J Clin Rheumatol. 2023 Apr 1;29(3):118-125. doi: 10.1097/RHU.0000000000001922. Epub 2022 Dec 7.
Given the increasing number of novel and expensive drugs for rheumatoid diseases, the financial relationships between pharmaceutical companies and rheumatologists could be prevalent and substantial. However, little was known about the information in Japan.
Using payment data publicly disclosed by 92 major pharmaceutical companies, we evaluated the financial relationships between pharmaceutical companies and rheumatologists who were board certified by the Japan College of Rheumatology between 2016 and 2019. The trends in payments were estimated by the generalized estimating equations with 4-year payment data. Differences in payments between general and leading rheumatologists including the board members, clinical practice guideline authors, and medical journal editors were assessed.
Of the board-certified rheumatologists, 70.7% (3563 of 5038) received a total of $55,246,485 in personal payments for lecturing, writing, and consulting from 79 pharmaceutical companies between 2016 and 2019. The median payments per rheumatologist receiving payments were $3447 (interquartile range, $1124-$11,974) in payment amounts. There were increasing trends in the payments per rheumatologist and the number of rheumatologists with payments, with average yearly change rates of 5.9% (95% confidence interval, 3.9%-7.9%; p < 0.001) and 1.2% (95% CI, 0.3%-2.0%; p = 0.008). The leading rheumatologists such as the society board members, clinical practice guideline authors, and medical journal editors received much more payments than other rheumatologists.
Most rheumatologists increasingly received personal payments for lecturing, consulting, and writing reimbursements from pharmaceutical companies in Japan. These payments were significantly concentrated on rheumatologists in authoritative and influential positions.
鉴于治疗类风湿疾病的新型昂贵药物数量不断增加，制药公司与风湿病学家之间的财务关系可能普遍且大量存在。然而，日本的相关信息鲜为人知。
我们使用 92 家主要制药公司公开披露的支付数据，评估了 2016 年至 2019 年间获得日本风湿病学会认证的风湿病学家与制药公司之间的财务关系。使用具有 4 年支付数据的广义估计方程来估计支付趋势。评估了普通和主要风湿病学家（包括学会理事会成员、临床实践指南作者和医学期刊编辑）之间的支付差异。
在认证的风湿病学家中，70.7%（5038 名中的 3563 名）在 2016 年至 2019 年期间，从 79 家制药公司获得了总计 5524.6485 美元的演讲、写作和咨询个人报酬。有报酬的风湿病学家的中位数支付额为 3447 美元（四分位距，1124-11974 美元）。每位风湿病学家的支付额和有报酬的风湿病学家人数均呈上升趋势，平均年变化率分别为 5.9%（95%置信区间，3.9%-7.9%；p<0.001）和 1.2%（95%置信区间，0.3%-2.0%；p=0.008）。像学会理事会成员、临床实践指南作者和医学期刊编辑等主要风湿病学家收到的报酬比其他风湿病学家要多得多。
大多数风湿病学家越来越多地从日本制药公司获得演讲、咨询和写作报销的个人报酬。这些报酬主要集中在有权威和影响力的风湿病学家身上。
